Planned power outage cancelled – by bad weather

Sunday morning had many islanders wondering why the power was still on, rather than off. Residents in Queen Charlotte, Skidegate and Tlell had been told to prepare for a 10-hour outage starting at 8 am Sunday (Sept. 18), so that Hydro crews could test submarine cables in Skidegate Inlet. But the power didn’t go out, leaving some calling Hydroor checking facebook to find out what was going on. Hydro spokesperson Bob Gammer explained that Sunday’s strong winds and heavy rain were too hazardous for crews to be working in. As well, the local Hydro crews, who were set to help out, had been up most of the night trying to restore power in Port Clements, Masset and Tow Hill Road. “When we put all that together we realized we could not safely do the cable testing,” Mr. Gammer said. Hydro will let people know well in advance of the next planned outage, he said, but he expected it might be a while now that the winter storm season has set in.